Santa's Helper
by mabelreid
Summary: Two shot Reid goes Christmas shopping for Henry and finds the child still living within his heart.
1. Chapter 1

_**Disclaimer: see my profile**_

_**A/n this is a two part story takes place this season. It follows canon up to Retaliation.**_

The toy store hadn't looked intimidating from the outside, despite its gigantic size. Of course that had been from the outside, the inside of the huge store turned out to be an entirely different matter. Reid stopped just inside the entrance, next to several rows of shopping carts and stared dumbstruck at the interior of the building. He shouldn't have listened to Garcia when she'd suggested this store for shopping. He should have known she'd down play how easy it would be to find a Christmas gift for Henry.

"Don't worry sweet cheeks," He muttered under his breath in a passable imitation of her voice. "Sure it will." He continued in his own voice.

"Good morning," said the silver haired elderly man wearing a purple vest that read "Toy World," on it. "Welcome to Toy World!" He said as he pulled a cart forward for Reid. "How can I help you this beautiful day?"

"Um… I need a toy," Reid blurted out.

The old man smiled. "You're in the right place young fellow. What age range?"

"What! Oh, um… he's thirteen months old."

"Ah - a difficult challenge - still, I'm sure we can find something appropriate." He pushed the cart to Reid. "Just head to your left son, and look for our pre-toddler range."

_Pre-toddler?_

"Um… Thank you very much."

"You're welcome son!" The old man waved him on enthusiastically as he returned to his position at the sliding door entrance.

Reid pushed his cart to the left, passing a display of Transformer toys from the latest movie. His eyes passed over the display and he stopped in his tracks, in the most prominent position of the rack, stood a box with an Optimus Prime toy. That particular robot just happened to be his favorite from the movie and from the animated series from the eighties.

He picked up the box and turned it over. The back said the toy's age range ran from three years and up. Of course, the toy would be too sophisticated for a one year old. He put it back where it had hung and continued on his quest for several feet. He stopped, walked backwards with the cart and snatched up the toy. Kids grow, JJ always said. He could keep the toy for Henry and give it as a birthday gift in a couple of years.

He moved on, passed a harried looking woman in a beige coat with dark, grey streaked hair. Her eyes moved frantically from side to side as if searching for something. Perhaps she'd lost a child. Should he offer to help? She looked around at him and snarled. "What're you looking at?"

He opened his mouth, but she barreled on past with her shopping cart as though in a race for the most popular toys. Garcia hadn't told him that people would be so rude. After all, they're just toys! He shook his head and resumed his search for the 'pre-toddler,' section of the store.

The rows of toys in that section when he found it consisted of fluffy stuffed animals without parts to choke the child. There were activity centers made from yellow, red and blue plastic that promised to speed the cognitive development of babies and their motor skills.

Reid crouched down to look at the activity set in front of him. All the books he'd read since Henry's arrival had stressed the importance of educational toys. He looked over the activity center and frowned. Logic dictated that he should get something educational for his Godson. It was the smart thing to do so that Henry would develop normally.

_Stop being so logical and boring, he's a baby, not the next savior of humanity!_

_Okay, that was true, but educational toys would help Henry develop his brain which would benefit him all of his life._

His bad knee stung a bit. He'd been crouching too long, so he straightened up and used the cart as support. His cane hung off the handle as it was easier to lean on the cart than push it one handed.

A young couple dressed in matching blue, winter coats, walked by him discussing the display of rubber bath toys to his left.

There are toys for the bathtub?

He pushed his cart over to that section of the toys and looked at them. Nothing education here, just fun he noticed. The couple decided on a couple of yellow ducks.

_Why is everything yellow?_

_He'd have to go home and look it up. Maybe there was a correlation between the color scheme and happiness for kids? _

_Focus!_

Right! He pushed his cart down the long aisle as more people passed him. Two small children ran past him, arguing heatedly about something called "Sponge Bob Square Pants." He shook his head. Had he heard right? The kids looked up at him and giggled to each other as they turned the corner to another aisle of toys. Did he have something spilled on his shirt?

"Excuse me…"

He looked away from the empty row to see a very tall and plump woman with light blue eyes standing in front of looking furious. "Have you seen two kids come this way?" He pointed in the direction that kids had gone, after noting that the little kids had the same eyes as the woman.

She must be their mother. The woman thanked him and hurried away down the aisle to the corner.

"What a security nightmare." He said to himself. "Anyone could snatch one of these kids and no one would be the wiser."

He passed two more groups of unsupervised children. They all pointed and laughed at him. He decided to ignore it all. It's not as if he wasn't used to sniggering from kids. All that mattered was that Henry seemed to like him.

_Yeah, focus on the mission at hand Genius. You're here for your Godson._

Okay, time to get serious. He found more activity centers and a few DVDs for something called "Baby Einstein." Hm… that had possibilities. Perhaps educational stuff wasn't so bad after all. He picked up the DVD and read the back. He put it back. Wasn't the point of the holiday to get something fun? Garcia had said that it was the point. She'd vetoed his ideas for educational stuff. He remembered the conversation they'd had in her office yesterday.

_"Reid…" She said in a tone of 'listen carefully or you're in big trouble.' Henry's only a year old."_

_"Thirteen months and nine days." He interrupted. _

_She scowled at him and he decided to shut up. _

_"He's a year old and this is his first Christmas._

_"Technically last year was -" He snapped his mouth closed at her glare. _

_"It's his first Christmas that he's really old enough to enjoy, so we need to get him some fun toys for him." _

_"But -"_

_"Reid… When JJ brought him to the Christmas party last weekend, what did you notice about him?"_

_(Was this a trick question?) _

_"Um… Well, he appeared to be in good health, well fed and clean. His hair is longer than the last time_

_We saw him…" He trailed off at the look on her face. _

_"He had that stuffed dinosaur JJ brought him for his birthday that he loves. He doesn't care about educational toys, he was happy with the dinosaur._

_"Okay, so no educational toys." He repeated it, like a fact learned in school._

_She patted his arm. "Now you're getting it, my gorgeous genius. Go forth and conquer the universe of toys."_

Reid came back to the present when a small child raced past and bumped his cart.

"David!" A voice yelled behind him. "What have I told you about running in the store?"

She hurried past Reid. "Sorry…" She called back shooting him an apologetic look.

He sighed! He could stand there and dither all day or make a choice already. He decided on a huge stuffed dog. He put it in the cart with the lone Transformer toy and began to search for the check out stands. How had he gotten so turned around?

He turned a corner and nearly ran head on into a man about Hotch's age and Rossi's build. "Excuse me…" He said.

The other man scowled at him and hurried away in the opposite direction. "Well… Excuse me!" He repeated under his breath.

His eyes fell on a huge box of Lego toys as he turned another corner. "Wow…" He said excitedly.

He'd never seen a box that big. The picture showed that you could build a bulldozer if you wanted to. He picked it up, his mind racing with the possibilities. He'd always wanted a set of these toys as a kid, but his mom never took him to a toy store. He ignored the voice that told him he was supposed to be there for Henry and put the box in his cart.

It took him ten minutes, but he finally found the line to check out. Only three checkout counters were manned. He chose the shortest line behind the same woman who asked him what he'd been looking at when he'd entered the store. She now had a cart pile high with toys. He decided to look anywhere but at her face.

He leaned on this cart and fingered his cane. Why wasn't his line moving? Two people in the other line had moved forward, but not his line. The reason became clear when the customer in front of the grey haired woman began to argue with the clerk over coupons. Great! He'd never get out of here!

"Hey Reid…" A familiar voice said as the manager came to the check out stand and began trying to mediate the disagreement.

"Hi Garcia! What are you doing here?"

"I forgot a gift when I came in last week to shop for Jack and Henry."

"You got a present for Jack too!" Panic made his stomach turn over.

"Well yeah…" She came closer to the cart, carrying a smaller basket over her arm. "Don't tell me you got all these just for Henry."

"Um…" He grabbed out the Transformer toy. "This is for Jack!"

She looked at him with narrowed eyes. "Then why did you just go white as a sheet, baby boy?"

"My knee hurts," He lied.

"I don't think so. I know what pain looks like on your face."

"Then you must have missed it!"

She put her hand on her hips and stared at him while the clerk began to ring up the grey haired woman's purchases. "Let's see what else you have." She suddenly pounced, knocking his cane from its perch on the handle of the cart.

"Garcia!'

"Are you nuts lady?" An old man said from his place behind Reid in line.

She ignored them both and pulled out a plastic package of dinosaur toys. "Who are these for?" She said, letting it dangle back and forth between her fingers.

"Can we talk about this later?" Reid hissed angrily as he bent to scoop up his cane.

"Yes… Get out of the way!" The old man snarled. "I'm trying to finish up a hellish day of shopping for my ungrateful grandchildren."

Garcia smiled sweetly at the old man. "Of course," She stepped back out of the way just as it became Reid's turn at the checkout.

Reid's face burned the entire time the young black haired woman scanned his items. Garcia just walked around to the other side of the checkout stand and waited for him.

"I thought you had shopping to do." Reid began as he pushed the cart toward the exit.

"It can wait! I want to know what you're doing with Lego's, dinosaur toys, and kids magic kit complete with top hat and black cape."

"I'm getting a jump start on birthday gifts for our Godson."

She stopped, blocking his cart. "I don't think so… I had to practically shove you out the door to shop for Christmas."

"So…"

"So, you don't plan ahead when it comes to kids."

He swerved around her and limped to the exit. "Believe what you want!'

She didn't chase after him, which relieved and concerned him at the same time. Still, he'd made it through the day of shopping without new bruises. That had to be some kind of record. He hobbled out to his car. Christmas was a week a way and now that he'd finished shopping, he could relax.


	2. Chapter 2

_**Disclaimer: see my profile**_

_**A/n hey all here's the last half of the story. Please enjoy.**_

Reid locked his apartment door and walked to the Christmas tree Morgan had insisted on buying and setting up for him. It dominated one corner of the room. He had to admit that it looked good sitting there across from his bookcase. Emily and Garcia had given him decorations purchased at the local store dedicated to Christmas. He had managed to make the silver tinsel and the gold lights look semi-professional. The ornaments all matched except for a Starship Enterprise bought for him by Emily. It occupied the place of honor at the front of the tree surrounded by red and gold globes.

He sat down on the couch with just a faint tinge out of his knee. The doctor had finally taken away his cane just two days ago. He smiled to think of walking out of the doctor's office without that cane. It had been the best Christmas present he had received and speaking of gifts, he had several wrapped and surrounding his tree.

A smile of pure happiness broke out on his face. He'd just returned from JJ and Will's house. They'd invited him for Christmas dinner. JJ had tried to make him stay for the night on the pullout couch, but he'd declined. It was their first real Christmas for Henry to enjoy and he refused to intrude on it. Still, it had been fun. They'd let Henry open his gift. He'd been more interested in the tissue paper and gigantic gift bag Reid had put the stuffed dog into for him, then the toy itself.

Reid laughed aloud to think about it. All that drama and the kid wanted to shove tissue paper in his mouth instead of playing with this stuffed dog.

"_Kids always like the wrapping paper better than the toys at this age. Don't worry Spence… He'll love the dog." _

"_Yeah… He'll realize the dog is here to stay when the wrapping paper disappears into the trash." Will said. _

_Reid watched as the happy boy tipped over the bag and tried to crawl inside. Will leaned over and pulled him out by both legs. Henry cried at first then wiggled out of Will's arms to the bag again. He crawled back into the bag and Will pulled him out again. This time Henry had laughed. Will let him go and he crawled back into the bag, laughing hard. JJ nudged Reid and Will smirked at him. At first, he didn't touch Henry but JJ talked him into continuing Will's game as they cleaned up from the dinner. He pulled the baby out of the bag and Henry would struggle out of his hand and back into the bag laughing joyfully. It made Reid laugh too. Over and over again, they played the game until Henry finally began to cry. _

"_He's tired. " JJ said. _

"_I'll put him down," Will said. "Come on Master Henry! It's time for bed." _

_"Bye Henry! Reid waved at his little Godson._

_He watched Henry's dad take him out of the living room to the little boy's bedroom. _

"_He really loves you Spence." JJ said. _

"_He's great." _

"_Yeah…" She sat down on the couch next to him. "I can't imagine my life without Henry and Will." _

"_You're lucky JJ." _

"_Now we need to find someone for you." _

"_JJ…" His face got hot. _

"_You're a great catch Spencer Reid. You're cute and sweet, and smart and funny. You're kind of good looking too," She laughed._

"_JJ!"_

"_I'm just kidding; you're pretty cute in your own way." _

"_That's not what I meant JJ. I don't know how to talk to girls. They think I'm weird._

"_You did pretty well with Lila, and Austin. The working girls like you too." _

_He went crimson. "Not funny JJ," He stammered._

"_Okay, then take the working girls out of the equation. Someday someone is going to realize you're a great catch." _

"_I don't know…" _

"_I do know… Now, let's talk about sleeping arrangements. The pullout's pretty comfortable." _

"_I don't want to stay here JJ. The holiday is for you and your little family. _

"_Come one Spence… No one should wake up alone on Christmas morning." _

"_It's okay JJ. I'm used to it. This day is for families, not lonely coworkers crashing the party." _

"_You know you're more than a teammate. You're a good friend and Henry's Godfather."_

"_Stop badgering the man." Will said as he came back into the living room. "Spencer you know I don't mind having you here…" _

"_I know Will. I really do want to sleep in my own bed." _

_JJ reached out and ruffled his hair. "Okay… I'll see you sometime tomorrow." _

"_Alright…" He relented. _

"_Good! Call me when you get home." She ordered as he stood up to get his coat." _

"_JJ!' _

"_Spencer!" _

"_It's not that far!"_

"_It's starting to snow a bit." She'd moved to the window as looked out around the blinds. _

"_The man's perfectly capable of driving home!" _

"_You don't know him like I do, Will. He can get into trouble just by getting out of bed in the morning." _

"_I hardly think that's true." Will said as Reid went scarlet. "He doesn't live that far away JJ." _

"_Call me when you get home." She insisted. _

"_Okay… I'll call you." _

Reid snapped out of his thoughts and pulled his phone out of his pocket. JJ was liable to call Hotch on him if he didn't call her.

"Hi JJ," He said when she picked up.

"_You made it home." _

"Yes! I'm all safe and sound."

"_Don't mock me Spence." _

"Sorry…"

"_Okay, get some sleep." _

"Thanks for inviting me over for dinner JJ."

"_You're welcome." _

"Bye JJ…"

"_Bye Spence… Merry Christmas." _

He shut his phone and got up to turn off his Christmas lights. It was early but he wanted to sleep. The snow outside his window had really picked up. It would be a very white Christmas in the morning.

---

The next morning dawned bright with sparkling new snow blanketing everything like fresh cut diamonds had dropped from the sky overnight.

He went to the kitchen to brew his first pot of coffee for the day, thankful for the extra sleep and no crazy un-sub to chase. He looked around the kitchen as he waited and wished his mother could be there.

Hotch would have his first Christmas without Haley. Morgan would be spending the day with his family in Chicago. Garcia had Kevin and Rossi had gone to visit the Galen kids. Emily had gone skiing with a new boyfriend and JJ had Will and Henry.

He poured out coffee in his favorite mug and added a couple teaspoons of sugar to it. He walked into the living room and looked at the tree in the corner. He put down the coffee and went to the gifts under the tree unable to wait any longer. It was strange and Morgan would probably laugh at him, but he could seem to help himself.

The first package has a tag on it with his name but no name in the space marked for the giver. He'd wanted to write Santa there, but it seemed too desperate.

He tried to imagine his mother's face. He wanted her to be there so badly it hurt, but he couldn't make her face and form solidify out of memory into the room. He sighed and pulled off the wrapping paper from the first package. It opened to reveal the plastic bag full of toy dinosaurs Garcia had caught him with that day.

He opened the bag and dumped them out, smelling the familiar scent of molded plastic. Oddly, he wanted to thank someone, but he could only thank himself. Even though he'd bought the gifts for himself, it was better than waking up to just another day as he had for years. He'd loved the books his mother bought for him when she could still function and remember the holidays, but he'd always wanted toys to play with like the other kids.

He sighed and picked up the next gift. He smiled at the sound of ripping paper that revealed the children's magic kit. He opened the box to try on the top hat. It was way too small and just sort of perched on the top of his head, but he left it there. It made him smile.

The next box had his Legos. He'd already planned on how he'd put his engineering skills to use with the toys.

He looked up at clock on the table. It was just after eleven am. His stomach growled, but he couldn't tear himself away from the toys. His long fingers itched to sort his dinosaurs into carnivores and herbivores, and flying species, from the land dwelling monsters like the enormous T-Rex. Nevertheless, his stomach rumbled in protest so he left the toys to go get something resembling brunch together.

His phone beeped as soon as he stood up from his toys. "Reid!"

"_Hello Reid," Hotch said. "I called to say thank you for Jack's toy." _

"Oh, um, you're welcome."

"_I hope you understand why I didn't invite you over today. I just needed it to be me, Jack and Haley's family this year." _

"It's okay Hotch. I completely understand."

"_Thank you Spencer. Oh… There's someone that wants to talk to you." _

The next minute had Jack babbling excitedly in Reid's ear. He couldn't make out about one word in five. He got that the little boy was trying to thank him for the Optimus Prime toy. Reid managed to get out "Merry Christmas, and "Thank you 'Pencer," before Hotch took the phone back.

"_He really loves that toy. I can't think you enough for helping to take his mind off Haley. It's been a rough day." _

"I'm happy to help Hotch. He's a great kid."

"_You're a good friend." _

Reid's face went hot at Hotch's use of the term friend. Hotch had never really called him that before and it made his heart fill as it wanted to burst with happiness.

"You too Hotch," He said shyly.

"_Merry Christmas Reid. Have a good day. I'll see you on Monday." _

"Okay… Merry Christmas."

Somehow the call from Hotch made his day complete. Christmas had always been an ordeal, but because of Henry, Jack and his friends, it had become one of the best days of the year.

He opened his phone again. He had another call to make. It would be early there, but he was sure she'd be awake.

"Hi… It's Dr. Reid… Yeah, Merry Christmas to you. Can I talk to my mom?"

**_THE END_**

**_A/n Happy Holidays all, be safe! _**


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